Pinterest Fact, Fiction, or Fix? Glazed Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread

So I was browsing through pinterest yesterday and I found a friend had posted the recipe for a Glazed Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread.  I looked at the recipe and saw that it was low in flour and decided to try it.  To find the original recipe you can click on the link here.

Picture from lovelylittlekitchen.com

Well I made it and this is how it turned out:

Sadly most of it ended up in the garbage.  There was such a strong taste of vegetable oil that it completely ruined the rest of the ingredients.  It want to put out there that my vegetable oil was old, so that may have been part of the problem, but it also lacked a certain sweetness. I decided that this was definitely a fixable recipe, so in an attempt to fix it (and still remain partially healthy) I changed the vegetable oil to coconut oil and added honey:

GLAZED APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL BREAD

Author: Amber Dean inspired by lovelylittlekitchen.com

Makes: 1 loaf

 

Ingredients:

Dry Mixture

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Wet Mixture

• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup honey

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar (add more if needed to thicken)
• 1/4 cup applesauce

Directions:

Mix all of the Dry mixture ingredients together and let them rest.  Pre-heat oven to 350. Then mix all of the wet ingredients. Slowly combine wet ingredients in the dry mixture.  Mix until both are properly combined. Do not over mix.  Put in a greased bread pan and bake for approx 45 mins.  Take out and cool.  

This is what the new loaf looked like:

Unglazed

 While the bread is cooling mix up the glaze and apply to the top if the bread after 20 mins.  This will fill in the cracks and keep it moist.

Prepping the glaze

 I forgot to take a picture of it glazed before I took a bite.  Oops!

With glaze

 Testing the fix.  All in all way better.

Time to dig in!

Consensus:

I liked my version so much better.  Will I make it again?  Probably not.  It was super moist and filling, but it was not sweet enough for my tastes.  However, this recipe would be good if you think banana bread is too sweet.

Overall this was a good Pinterst fix :)

 

Pinterest Fact or Fiction: Snickerdoodle Muffins

So when I was out with friends this weekend they mentioned snickerdoodle muffins.  "That's awesome!" I thought, so I immediately went on pinterest and found a bazillion different recipes for them.  I picked one that I had all of the ingredients for and here are my results:

I took the recipe from here.

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cup sour cream
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling*

1.Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.

2.In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and nutmeg.

3.Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally.

4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place muffin into muffin tin. Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20-22 minutes in a 350F oven or until they are golden brown.

I mixed everything as described above and here is what it looked like in my mixer:

From there I put the batter in the muffin cups (I didn't roll in cinnamon-sugar like the recipe suggested).

Instead I sprinkled it cinnamon-sugar on top!

Put it in the oven at 350 degrees F.  In my oven it took 27 mins of baking.

The results are delicious!

Pinterest fact or fiction...Definitely FACT! :)  Enjoy!

Giving in, not giving up: My wacky approach to lent

Every year I get the same question: "What are you giving up for lent?"  In the past I have given up facebook, reading for pleasure--by far the hardest thing I have done for lent--TV, and ice cream.  This year I went into it with, really Lord I have to give up something?  Thankfully I prayed about my attitude and what I should give up.  Instead I received a different answer.

Here is pretty much a summary of our conversation:

Instead of giving up something and saying "no" how about saying "yes?"
Well okay God, but that seems too easy.
Just trust me.
Umm..okay God, but you seem to be letting me off easy.

Becoming the "YESwoman"

I am sure he was really laughing at this point (saying yes has been far from easy, but more on that later).  So off I went on what I was sure was my easy journey through the Lenten season.  I have never seen the movie Yes Man but from the synopsis that is pretty much that I am doing.  I won't go into detail too much of what I am doing, but I have meet some extraordinary people these last few weeks.  I have had a glimpse at the ministry that Jesus must have had, and it has deepened my appreciation to a whole new level.  In the last few weeks I have met all kinds of wonderful people from all walks of life and have had my eyes opened to their pain.  I am so thankful for such an amazing Saviour and I am really glad I know him.  In just the first few weeks of this Lenten season I have had my world shaken, and I cannot wait to see what the rest will bring.

Peace and Love to you all!  (I know I sound like a hippie)   :)